Patient versus parental perceptions about pain and disability in children and adolescents with a variety of chronic pain conditions

Cross-informant variance is often observed in patient self-reports versus parent proxy reports of pediatric chronic pain and disability. To assess the relationship and merit of the child versus parent perspective. A total of 99 patients (eight to 17 years of age [mean 13.2 years]; 71% female, 81% Caucasian) and parents completed the Pediatric Pain Questionnaire and Functional Disability Inventory at their initial clinic visit. Patients' and parents' pain intensity and disability scores were analyzed using an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Bland-Altman plot and Spearman's correlation coefficient. The association between clinical⁄demographic variables and differences in patient⁄parent pain intensity and disability scores was assessed using multivariable regression. There was significant agreement between patients' self-reports and parents' proxy reports of their child's pain intensity (ICC=0.52; P